American Express describes Centurion members as ''super-affluent high net worth individuals on a continual quest for the best and most exclusive''. The annual fee for the privilege is $4300.

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Last September The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that Mr Williamson and the former general secretary Craig Thomson, now a federal Labor MP, received kickbacks from a union supplier by way of American Express cards. Both have denied the allegations.

When the Herald asked her about the card yesterday, Ms McMillan said: ''I have nothing to say to you'' and hung up.

Later, through her solicitor Simon Konstantinidis, she denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Konstantinidis said his client was a 60-year-old grandmother who worked two days a week at the union. He said she paid her own credit card bills and had no knowledge of any kickbacks in relation to the union and any of its suppliers.

Ms McMillan's salary, sources say, would be insufficient to pay the amounts Mr Williamson, 58, has been incurring on the second card. The mystery remains as to who has been paying it.

Mr Konstantinidis is also representing a Palm Beach printer, John Gilleland, 65, and his wife Carron, who are alleged to have given Mr Thomson and Mr Williamson American Express cards while receiving $640,000 a year to produce the union's newsletter.

The Gillelands, whose house was raided by officers from Strike Force Carnarvon in February, have denied any wrongdoing. Mr Konstantinidis said Ms McMillan had recently been spoken to by detectives and had answered questions put to her by Ian Temby, QC.

The union appointed Mr Temby, the former head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, to review its tender, recruitment and expenditure processes and the use of corporate credit cards.

Mr Williamson, who has declined to assist Mr Temby, has been seen regularly at the union headquarters. An insider said that despite being on ''personal leave'' since October, Mr Williamson had been in de facto control of the union. He also said Mr Williamson's brother Darren, a highly paid HSU official, remained his ''eyes and ears'' when he was not in the office.

It is understood Mr Temby's investigations have uncovered that a Williamson family company Canme (the initials of the names of his five children) received more than $400,000 from the HSU for ''secretarial services''.

Questions have also been raised about another supplier, Alf Downing, whose company supplies union paraphernalia. Mr Downing, 68, confirmed he had never had to submit a tender to supply such services.

A union insider said that several years ago at a Christmas function Mr Downing said he inflated union invoices and then made ''donations back''. But Mr Downing said such allegations were ''a load of rubbish''.

''I don't give backhanders because I don't make enough money,'' he said yesterday.

Mr Downing's company, Access Focus, which Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show changed its name to Aurio Services a decade ago, has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the HSU. Union officials have previously said they were never sure what Access Focus did.

Industry Minister Greg Combet said today that the behaviour of some Health Services Union (HSU) officials was unacceptable and not in line with Labor or union values.

Making his first comments on the HSU scandal since the completion of two Fair Work Australia investigation reports, Mr Combet went further in his criticism than Prime Minister Julia Gillard or Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten.

Fair Work Australia is finalising Federal Court action against former and current HSU officials following two investigations, as police in NSW and Victoria look into allegations of credit card misuse and financial mismanagement.

One of those being investigated is Craig Thomson, who headed the union between 2002 and 2007 and is accused of misusing a credit card for prostitutes and cash withdrawals. He denies the allegations.

Mr Combet, a former ACTU boss, told reporters in Melbourne that it was important not to prejudge investigations, but standing up for values was equally vital.

‘‘It’s also important in a general sense to indicate we see the conduct that has been canvassed ... is not something that is acceptable,’’ Mr Combet said.

‘‘That’s not something that reflects the values of the labour movement.’’

Ms Gillard has declined to comment on the matter while due process takes its course and is standing by Mr Thomson.

Mr Combet said that while the prime minister had handled the issue appropriately, it was also important that the government and labour movement ''make our values very clear''.

Australian Workers' Union national secretary Paul Howes, who last week voted in favour of the ACTU suspending the HSU from its ranks, said the scandal had unfairly sullied the reputation of the entire union movement.

''The time has come for the HSU to sort out the HSU,'' he said.

''You have one small union here with a few individuals who have acted in an incredibly selfish manner.''

174 comments

@ Srg. You're kidding right? Fair Work Australia IS funded by Tax dollars. As are the Police, Court system and the Politicians arguing about it every day. This thing will cost the Country millions by the time it's over. Why don't you get YOUR facts straight.

Do you think Strike Force Carnarvon is run by the Salvos?

Commenter

Red

Location

Sunshine Coast

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:32AM

@srg Although Brisbane Bear is generalizing about money and taxes they are spot on about the fact that Gillard & Labor are doing their best to defer interest from the matter. This is due to the fact that a resignation from Craig Thompson if found guilty would cause a bi-election and loss of seat and perhaps government which is the big issue in all of this.

No doubt this investigation will go round in circles for years and years costing a fortune as long as Thompson doesn't need to resign. Gillard even mentioned that 'but John Howard did it' which is probably true. Oh Government!

Commenter

Doug

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:38AM

Makes you wonder if this is isolated to one union or if they are all a bit like this. Here was me thinking my fees went towards protecting my rights.

Commenter

Matt

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 6:58AM

This sort of culture thrives where there is an expectation of unquestioning loyalty and a climate of fear. Unions that have an active membership taking an interest in what their union officials are doing and keeping them accountable, have a process of keeping these sorts of excesses in check. Mind you unions are no more or less corrupt than companies, corporation or any other body in our society.

Commenter

Jenny Haines

Location

Glossodia

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:20AM

"...The other animals on the farm looked at the humans, then at the pigs, and they could not tell the difference between the two. This is the story of Animal Farm..."

The Labor party is the political wing of the union movement. It all makes sense now.

Commenter

Mao

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:42AM

First of all, let's remember the principle of "innocent till proven guilty". Let's not rush to judgement.

Secondly, as an active unionist, I am outraged because these alleged activities are incredibly damaging to the union movement. Unions should be above suspicion, because our role in society attracts so much hostility from the capitalists anyway.

What is my solution? Labour should clean its own house. The HSU officials and ex-officials under suspicion should be tried by their members.

1. Publish the FWA report and the pending Temby report, together with the evidence they gathered, on the HSU's web site.

2. HSU members elect a dispute committee to hear charges against an official, former official, union employee, or any other member if necessary.

3. The dispute committee opens its hearings to HSU members. Anyone charged can be represented by a HSU member, but not otherwise.

4. The report of the dispute committee is published on the HSU web site, together with its verdict and any penalties.

5. The HSU gives full support to the prosecution in the courts of anyone the dispute committee finds guilty of breaking union rules in a way that amounts to breach of civil law.

6. Finally, all unions, including my own, should publish their credit card statements on their web site as an appendix to their financial statements.

Commenter

Greg Platt

Location

Brunswick

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:48AM

Hey Matt, matie, don't worry. They can't get you, you're part of the union. Way to go!

Commenter

siegie

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 8:54AM

Yeah Matt, they look after workers rights OK, their own! Reminds me of when I was a young waiter 25 years ago at an upmarket Melb restaurant and we had another union dinner, they had grange, french champers, crayfish, oysters, etc etc. One of the senior guys (now a minister on the front bench) said to me to join the union as he liked my approach and said I would go far. I asked, how many of these types of dinners did the rank and file get, ever? He went red faced and almost choked on his main........pity it was almost!

Commenter

shemp

Location

melb

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 9:22AM

beachboy, this government was going to be better than howard remember? now its aiming [and this is straight from your PM's mouth!] to do the same as the howard government. Good to see that this PM is prepared to slink so low as to do as good a job as howard did!

Jenny, sadly, the unions are above the law, as we have seen today, union hacks appointed to the boards of union front super funds, and equity banks CANNOT be stood down, CANNOT be dismissed and this government WILL NOT change the law to bring the same level of corperate scrutiny to bear on how and were funds flow to, and the same levels of corperate governance that are required by corperations law. They are NOT accountable in the same way. As we have seen with the head of the HSU, there is very little they can do about this behaviour, and whats more, the dogged insistance that this is an isolated example is farsical. Remember about 18 months ago in NSW, when it was revealed that a union had reduced the pay rise it negotiated for its members, and diverted the difference to its own accounts when negotiating with transport companies. It didnt tell its members, and made the companies sign non disclosure documents. How is that in the best interests of members?

Commenter

another matt from melbourne

Location

melbourne

Date and time

April 11, 2012, 10:21AM

I don't think it's just the union, it is all greedy people who have the power to abuse the system. Thank god there is an organization call ICAC.

11 Apr
A BREAKAWAY group of Health Services Union officials trying to reform the troubled organisation is drafting a plan that would cut the pay of future leaders and strip them of such perks as credit cards. The plan, believed to involve 10 key principles, is being drafted by union organisers who are backing a push to oust the union's national president, Michael Williamson, and replace him with his deputy, Gerard Hayes.

1 May
FIVE companies, some associated with the Health Services Union boss Michael Williamson, received more than $17 million over a four-year period, a scathing report into the union's procurement process has found.